Sukhomlyn explains why a new water supply system for Mykolaiv is being built with less capacity than planned

A new water pipeline for Mykolaiv is being built with a capacity of 120,000 cubic metres, instead of 160. This decision was made after analysing the city's actual water consumption and due to high losses in water supply networks, which now reach 60%.

This was announced by the head of the State Agency for Infrastructure Recovery and Development, Serhii Sukhomlyn, in the podcast «Budget Talks», according to NikVesti.

«We analysed virtually everything. The first question was: why does Mykolaiv need 160,000 cubic metres? Maybe it should be reduced? In fact, two feasibility studies were developed — both for 160,000 cubic metres. When we analysed the actual water consumption in Mykolaiv, we saw that the city currently consumes 75 to 100 thousand cubic metres per day. Even when the war ends, even when production starts, it is clear that 130,000 cubic metres may be needed, but we have set the bar at 120. Why? Because today, the losses in the networks in Mykolaiv itself are about 60%. The state has no right to spend money to cover such losses. And we immediately laid down this capacity of the water supply system, knowing that Mykolaiv has such a problem,» explained Serhii Sukhomlyn.

He also noted that Denmark is currently helping Mykolaiv to replace pipes in the city that were damaged by salt water.

«Denmark has already helped Mykolaiv with the pipes. And the city's task is to do its part to drastically reduce the loss,» added Serhii Sukhomlyn.

As a reminder, salt water damaged 1,200 kilometres of the city's water supply network. Borys Dudenko, Director of «Mykolaivvodokanal», said that it is impossible to replace the entire length of the network that was damaged by salt water. As of August 2024, only about 3 kilometres of the network had been replaced.

Water supply for Mykolaiv

Almost three years have passed since Russian troops damaged the water supply pipeline that supplied Mykolaiv with water. Since then, the city of almost half a million people has been without a centralised supply of drinking water. Currently, Mykolaiv residents receive water from a backup source, which raises many questions about the quality of the water and the salt content.

The salt water damaged 1,200 kilometres of the city's water supply network. Borys Dudenko, director of «Mykolaivvodokanal», said that it is impossible to replace the entire length of the network that was damaged by salt water. As of August 2024, only about 3 kilometres of the network had been replaced.

All this time, representatives of state and local authorities were looking for ways to restore drinking water supply in Mykolaiv. The final solution was found in 2024: a new water supply line would be laid from Nova Odesa, and the money was allocated from the state budget.

The regional recovery service even selected contractors who will work according to the principle of «design-build». They are three companies, each of which is responsible for one of the three work areas: «Ukrtransmist», «Rostdorstroi» and «Avtostrada».

However, later both the client and the construction contractor were changed. The customer for the construction of the new water pipeline was the Service for Infrastructure Restoration and Development in Dnipropetrovska oblast, and the contractor was the group of companies «Avtostrada».

The future water pipeline for Mykolaiv is expected to be built and launched by autumn 2025, said Serhii Sukhomlyn, head of the State Agency for Reconstruction.

Back during a conference in Berlin in 2024, First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Korniienko, answering a question from NikVesti, said that the lack of drinking water in Mykolaiv was one of the biggest problems in Ukraine that the state should solve in the near future.

And President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ordered the construction of a new water supply system to provide Mykolaiv with drinking water «under the fast track option» — drinking water should be available by the summer of 2025. The government has already approved the programme.

Solar power plants are going to be installed on the water supply system for Mykolaiv, which will reduce the cost of the water tariff for the city's residents, said Vitalii Kim, head of the Regional Water Company.

At the same time, the contracting company «Avtostrada» explained that it was decided to lay a new water supply system for Mykolaiv from Nova Odesa, as it is the nearest «site with good quality drinking water». They also showed photos of the construction of the new water supply system.

Still need more purified water

Although a new water supply system for Mykolaiv is promised to be built by autumn 2025. However, this does not guarantee that the city will immediately receive drinking water, as a new water treatment system needs to be built, Kristina Mikulova, head of the European Investment Bank's Regional Centre for Eastern Europe, told NikVesti.

At the same time, Deputy Mayor of Mykolaiv and head of the city's recovery working group Serhii Koreniev said that the Mykolaiv Recovery Agency is working to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant and launch it simultaneously with the new water supply system.

And Vitalii Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional Water Authority, said he did not want to rush to take out a large loan for the construction of water treatment facilities for Mykolaiv, despite the EIB's readiness to allocate more than €100 million.

Later, it became known that the State Agency for the Restoration and Development of Infrastructure is currently upgrading the water treatment system for Mykolaiv on behalf of the government.

Together with the constructed water pipeline, this will allow the city to launch a centralised drinking water supply in August 2025, said Serhii Sukhomlyn, head of the State Agency for Infrastructure Recovery and Development.